Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Ten Days of CSA: Day 1, Grilled Vegetable Kebabs

But you have to say "kebab" like Flight of the Conchords and all non-American English speakers say it: keh-bab. With the v. pure "a" sound like the a in "bad". None of this kabob rubbish.

Okay, now you try it.

Close!

Just keep trying.

It's a fun exercise.

Another fun exercise is to read Trainspotting out loud, trying out all the accents that the book covers, which are several. Just be sure to do it in the privacy of your own bedroom. It can get ugly. But it's never not fun.

But about this recipe, which is what I'm here for and you're here for, because you probably don't love accents as much as I do, and I probably shouldn't be talking so publicly about my behind-closed-doors adventures, even if they are as innocent as reading a book out loud. This is a simple, nice little recipe, found on the wonderful internets through a little "marinated grilled vegetables" search. I got a lot of no-go's, but this one is good. I'll probably make these guys again, actually, because grilling vegetables (even on my cheap grill pan) is a tasty way to prepare and serve vegetables, especially of the squash variety, of which most of us might be tired at present. CSAs (and gardens, I hear) can really do that to you.

Also I have a lot of skewers left.

I'm not doing a v. good job selling these, am I? I think it's because the fact that grilled vegetables are delicious is a given. Once you read how simple the marinade is, and you see the pictures, you'll be immediately sold regardless of what else I have to say in this post.

Especially if you have a CSA.

Note that the veggies listed are totally replaceable with any other vegetable that you think is grill-worthy. I tried an onion and it just broke into bits once I tried to skewer it. Just so you know. Probably whole shallots or pearl onions or something small like that would work better.

Carefully arrange the prepared vegetables onto skewers, and put them on a baking sheet. Whisk together the olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, dill, honey and lemon or lime juice in a small bowl. (Tip: if the honey is not quite liquid, microwave it for 10 seconds before adding the other ingredients to your measuring cup.) Brush the marinade on the kebabs and let marinate for 15 minutes. (I don't currently have a brush. I just drizzled the marinade on the kebabs and rotated them every couple of minutes so the excess marinade on the plate could coat them fully.)

Preheat a grill or grill pan (worked fine!) to medium heat. Put the skewers on the grill and cook on all sides, about 6-10 minutes total.

Finally, this is a really great little marinade. If you just wanted to pour it into a pie plate and let the veggies, unskewered, soak in it for a while before grilling them solo, they'd be just as delicious, albeit less beautiful, as they would be kebabified.

Hey - you know what's not the same across the board? Bagel. And vague. In fact... in two weeks from now, I think you should ask your friends' Minnesotan husbands to say either or both of those words to you. If you do it after a cocktail or two, it might end up being HOURS of fun.